//------------------------------// // Wildlands // Story: The Disaster Pokemon // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Limestone was grateful to be away from the biting cold and slicing winds of the mountain range, but the wasteland that she and her group found themselves on wasn't much better. The ground was barren and rough, with only a few sickly patches of grass growing in irregular patterns. There were no trees to provide something to look at and the land seemed to go on forever. The sky was gray and dull, further ruining Limestone's mood. A glance to her left showed that she was the only one feeling the effects of the wasteland. Her sister was humming to herself and seemed to be in better spirits, thankfully feeling a lot better thanks to the efforts of Absol's berries. And speaking of the Pokémon, Absol walked in the front of the group with the same stoic expression that he always had on his face, slightly ticking Limestone off. "So how do you know where you're going, anyway?" Limestone eventually asked the Pokémon when she got tired of the silence. The Pokémon turned his head slightly to look back at her, but the bit of fur that hung down over his face obstructed his eyes from here. 'Wonder if that's his natural hairstyle or if he does it to look cool. Because if that's the reason, it's not working.' "I haven't lived on the mountain forever. I occasionally come down and wander around, learning more about the land that I've come to call home," Absol stated in a simple tone. "Once in a blue moon I head towards a town or city and see how things have changed in the years since I last visited. I never interact with any of the ponies, though. That wouldn't be good for anyone." "Why do you avoid ponies so much?" Marble asked as she moved her mane from her face, allowing her to look at Absol with both of her eyes. "I know you said you were called a bringer of destruction, but so far from what I've seen you seem pretty nice, if a bit distant." "I prefer to be alone. To much interaction with others creates friction and friction generally ends with me running for my life," Absol replied with a smirk, yet from the dryness of his tone it was clear he wasn't joking. "Besides, I have tried to...interact and each time it ended the same. With me being called a monster and being attacked. I thought this world would be different. I was wrong." "This world? You seriously expect me to believe that you come from another world?" Limestone asked with a smirk of her own. "You an alien? So what, you came down in a fly saucer and after abduction some of our cow friends, you decided to live in the mountains? What do you think we are, five?" "Um, sis, remember when Pinkie told us about how there's an entire other world on the other side of a mirror that Princess Twilight has been to a few times?" Marble reminded her sister, whose eyes went wide as she remembered it as well. She then glanced at Absol who was giving her a wise smirk, getting her anger to bubble to the surface. "How could I have forgotten? Thank you, Marble," Limestone said through gritted teeth. "So say you're an alien? Why come here? Heck, how did you come here? It's not like there's just portals to Equestria lying around all over the place. Unless they are a bunch of portals in your world, in which case, shut up." "Well you're in a pleasant mood," Absol noted before he faced forward once more, just in time for a bitter gust of wind to whip through the three of them. The two sisters shivered as the cold bit into their bodies, but Absol just kept on moving ahead without slowing down. "I got here thanks to the power of a legendary Pokémon. That's all you need to know." "Well, thank you for all the lack of information. Really helps us understand who you are," Limestone grumbled, but if Absol heard her he didn't reply. "Allow me a few questions, if you will. How did the two of you find my home and why were you being chased by ghosts? You mentioned something about your family being in danger, but other than that you have been surprisingly quiet," Absol ribbed at Limestone, who clenched her teeth with anger. Marble sensed what was about to come and stepped between the two. "An ancient king that could command ghosts has risen, bringing with him a ghost army," Marble began, turning Absol's attention away from her sister. "He has attacked our nation with his army and is trying to take over our world. Those are the same ghosts that captured us and our family. They brought us by your mountain. My sister and I managed to escape from them, but our parents and sister are still captured by them." "I see. A being of evil trying to take over the world. Why am I not surprised? But why go after you and your family, though?" Absol asked. "Because our sister, Pinkie, is one of the six beings in this land that can stop him," Limestone cut in before Marble could speak, turning Absol's gaze back to her. "And so, in order to gain an upper hoof against the six of them, he's gone and kidnapped any who are related to the six. He takes us, our sister won't be able to fight him without putting us in danger." "We haven't seen any of the other families though, so it is possible that they only managed to catch us," Marble added on, trying to sound hopeful. Limestone gave her a look while Absol took a moment to stare down at his paws. "But if they have, I worry for what happened to them. They must be terribly scared." "We can't worry about them right now. Our goal is to get back to Pinkie and her friends, then to go search for our family," Limestone said bluntly, getting Marble to give her a look. "I know it sounds heartless, but it's all we can do right now. I don't like it anymore than you, Marble." "B-but who knows what they're doing to our family," Marble whispered weakly as she hid behind her mane. "They're dealing with Maud, Marble. If anything, those ghosts will break before she does," Limestone assured her sister, but in the back of her mind she was even more concerned about her family. 'They've got to be okay. They've got to be. We'll find them and save them and then kill those ghosts again.' Limestone raised her eyes to see that Absol was giving her a look, so she glared at him in reply. He shrugged his shoulders before looking over at Marble, who was shivering from fear once more. "Do not worry, Marble. I am certain that your family will be fine," Absol comforted her, getting the mare to look up at him with surprise. "I promise you that we will help them. And I will deal with any ghosts that try to say otherwise." Marble gave Absol a kind smile in reply to his words and he nodded, before Limestone made a scoffing sound and rolled her eyes. "Sure, be all nice to my sister. Apparently all it takes to win you over is a cute face." "Or a right hook to my jaw," Absol reminded her with a smirk, getting Limestone to give him a look. His face then hardened and he motioned for the two of them to stop. They did so and watched him as he walked around for a moment, crouched down and his horn glowing slightly. After a moment he resumed his usual posture and nodded for the both of them to follow him. "What was that about?" Limestone asked. "I felt something out there, something that was watching us," Absol informed the two as he kept his head on a swivel. "But whatever it was, it's gone now." "Do you think it was a ghost?" Marble whispered. "No. There was no malevolent intent. But there was something there," Absol muttered before shaking his head and looking back at the pair. "We are about a days journey from a pony town. Of course, that's implying that the both of you can go through the night without rest like I can. If not, we will need to find shelter when the sun goes down. The ghosts come out when the sun goes away." "Speaking of ghosts, when we asked how you managed to deal with them, you said type advantage. What the heck does that mean?" Limestone asked. Absol responded by getting his horn to glow with a dark light, before he slashed it forward and cleaved a nearby rock in two. Marble looked at the sight with awe while Limestone was upset that he had cleaved the boulder the wrong way. "Every Pokémon has a type. A type defines what it is strong against and what it is weak against. I am a dark type," Absol revealed as he ceased the glowing of his horn. "My type is strong against ghosts and psychic. In fact, I am immune to psychic powers completely. Which means whenever I go up against either of these types, I have the advantage and my dark attacks can decimate a foe in a single shot." "How many types are there?" Marble asked. "Seventeen last time I checked. Though I have heard rumors of a eighteenth type. One that would be bad for me," Absol whispered so that the two couldn't hear the last bit. "And as stated, each type has its own strengths and weaknesses. Don't ask me what each of them are, because I'm not entirely certain myself. All I really know is what I'm strong against and weak against." "And what do you happen to be weak against, if you don't mind me asking?" Limestone asked, only for Absol to smirk at her in reply. "Forgive me if I don't answer that question, but revealing my weaknesses to two ponies I barely know would be a very bad idea," Absol said with a chuckle. Limestone made a face at the lack of an answer, but she walked over beside her sister and moved in close. "Well at least we know that he's not some unstoppable monster," she whispered to Marble. "That means we can hopefully bring him down if he decides to turn on us." "He wouldn't do that. He might come off as cold, but he seems really nice deep down," Marble replied before giving her sister a look. "A bad pony...Pokémon probably wouldn't agree to help us after being punched in the face. You're lucky he didn't turn any of that dark power of his upon you." "Please, did you see how easily I decked him? Clearly whatever type he's weak to his what I am," Limestone replied before flexing a bet, getting Marble to shake her head before she walked past her sister and up to Absol. "I'm sorry that we kinda cheated you into this. I won't be upset if you are angry with us," Marble apologized for her and her sister, knowing that she would never do so voluntarily. "I know why your sister did it. The two of you are desperate to find your families, but the ghosts are too much of a problem. Am I right?" Absol asked and Marble nodded in reply. "We couldn't do anything to them. Our attacks went right through them. The guards that had magic were able to fend some of them off, but they were overpowered. The ghosts were just to strong." "Perhaps a bad type matchup?" Absol muttered to himself. "I am interested to hear why neither you or your sister don't seem to be intimidated by me. Practically every other pony I ran into was either afraid of me or tried to attack me. You are the only exception, as your sister already took a swing at me." "When we first saw you, I think we were a bit afraid. But then you showed you could destroy the ghosts and instantly my sister saw you as an...ally," Marble revealed, though Absol knew she was thinking of a different word. "And...Princess Celestia warned us about you, a bit. She said how you always seemed to show up before a ghost attack and that you might be involved with the ghosts somehow." "Of course she did," Absol replied in a tone that was struggling to hid the emotion within. "Blame the being that's trying to help." "What was that?" "Nothing," Absol growled before he looked up at the side, seeing that the sun was getting close to the top of a mountain range far in the distance. "It's getting late. We need to find shelter soon or else I'm going to be fighting ghosts all night. And I don't want to do that. Come on, let's see what we've got." After twenty of minutes of searching the group came across a small cave that lead underground. The three figured that it was the best that they were going to get and took up residence within the cavern. Limestone created a fire and the three sat in the light of the flickering flames, Absol watching the entrance to the cave as the sun dipped over the horizon. Marble tried to make small talk with the Pokémon a few times, but aside from a curt answer every now and then he didn't say much. Eventually she gave up on trying to talk with him and spent the time looking at the different berries that they had brought. Limestone didn't interact with any of them and instead spent the remaining daylight looking at the numerous rocks and rock formations that adorned the cave. When the sun finally vanished behind the mountains and darkness fell across the land, the two mares fell asleep next to one another, leaving Absol to his own thoughts. He sat staring at the fire for some time, but after a while he rose up and walked to the entrance of the cave. He sat down at the entrance and stared up at the stares, staring into the heavens and the billions of stars that all shone down upon him. 'Why here, Palkia?' Absol thought to himself as he gazed into the heavens. 'Why bring me to this world? I asked for a world where I could live in peace and quiet. Yet here I am, being dragged into another disaster even though I should just stay away. Yet you picked this world yourself. You told me that I would find peace here. Well, so far it seems that you're wrong. I hope that's only for the time being.' There was no answer, so Absol resumed keeping an eye out for any spirits that were getting a little too close. To his surprise, he found that none of the ghosts that he had sensed were coming there way. He was used to them avoiding him, but he had been certain that the ghosts would come for the ponies. Yet they kept their distance. He didn't like it. "So do you really not have to sleep or do you just prefer to be out at night?" Absol turned his head to see Limestone walking over to him, a tired look in her eyes but she was doing her best to hide it with a sarcastic smirk. Absol gave her no answer and she sat down beside him, but instead of staring at the stars she was looking down at the pebbles at her hooves. "I will sleep when the two of you are safe. I cannot keep my word if the both of you are taken by ghosts," Absol replied in his same, stoic tone, and once again it got Limestone to roll her eyes. "What brings you out here? Shouldn't you be asleep right now? It is a long journey to the next town and you will need to be rested." "Please, I've worked for days on end with no sleep on my farm. A night without sleep is nothing new to me," Limestone replied with a tough smirk, but Absol was too busy staring at the stars to notice. She let out a groan before she joined him in looking up at the stars, but after a while she started to get bored. "So you never did answer my question earlier. About how you ended up here." "I told you-" "Yeah, a legendary Pokémon, because I totally know what that is," Limestone snarked, getting Absol to give her a look. "Look, I get it, you don't like opening up to others. Neither do I. But my sister trusts you and I do too, to an extent. Like she said, if you were a bad being, you probably would have let the ghosts get us or leave us to freeze to death on the mountain. But you didn't. Which mean you're a good soul. But seriously, I want to know why you chose our world. Because you sure don't seem to be enjoying yourself." "Because if I had know you were on this world, I would have chosen differently." "Hahaha, you're really funny," Limestone replied in her driest tone possible. "Seriously, I want to know." "Fine, if it will get you to stop bothering me. I didn't chose this world in particular. I asked the legendary Pokémon that brought me here if they could find me a world where I could find peace. A world where I was no longer a bringer of disaster," Absol explained, his eyes turning towards the ground and a sad tone filling up his voice. "And for a while I thought that this world would be peacefully for me, but it seems that once more I am forced to help others. Only this time those I am forced to help are a lot more punch happy." "Never gonna let that go. Fine. So why help us?" Limestone asked out of the blue, getting Absol to look at her. "I mean, you could have just left us to die on the mountain or at the claws of the ghosts. You didn't have to help. But you did and I want to know why." Absol was silent for a long time after Limestone asked that question, long enough for the moon to travel halfway across the sky. While they sat Limestone glanced over Absol, amazed at how brightly his coat shined in the light of the moon. She had only just figured out that his hairstyle was supposed to be a yin and yang symbol, but she wasn't sure if she found that cool or stupid. She settled for stupid. "I suppose the reason I saved you is because of my mother." Absol had spoken so suddenly that it took Limestone a moment to process what he had said. When she had processed it, along with the sadness in his tone, she blinked once in confusion before trying to look into Absol's eyes. Absol turned his head away from her and laid down in a way that told her he was done talking. "Go back to sleep, Limestone. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a bad day." Limestone opened her mouth to say something, but only sighed as she rose to her hooves. She figured that he would just ignore her or maybe get mad at her. Not to mention that she was actually feeling kinda sleepy, so she took his advice and headed back into the cave. Yet even as she laid down next to her sister and started to drift off, she still couldn't piece together why Absol's mother would be the reason he saved them. And she figured that with his shut in attitude, she never would.